sethdford Strategic Narrative
Craft a coherent story that connects your vision, strategy, and market position for teams and stakeholders.
Context
You are building the strategic narrative. If you have vision, strategy, positioning, or market context, use it. Your goal is a compelling, coherent story that inspires action.
Domain Context
- Storytelling for strategy (Denning): Narrative drives action better than data alone
- Hero's journey structure: Problem > challenge > solution > outcome
- Multiple narratives: Team story, customer story, investor story
- Consistency across channels: Narrative reinforced across comms
Instructions
- Start with the problem: What's broken in the market?
- Introduce the solution: How does our product solve it?
- Show the impact: What becomes possible?
- Connect to vision: How does this get us there?
- Inspire action: Why should teams and customers care?
- Make it coherent: Does each part connect naturally?
Output Artifact
Strategic narrative (2-3 pages):
- Problem framing
- Solution introduced
- Market opportunity
- Vision connection
- Call to action for different audiences (team, customers, investors)
Anti-Patterns
- Disconnected elements: Vision doesn't connect to market positioning
- Jargon-heavy: Not compelling to audiences outside product
- Assumed vs. validated: Claims not grounded in evidence
- Same narrative for all audiences: Team narrative ≠ customer narrative ≠ investor narrative
Further Reading
- A Leader's Guide to Storytelling (Stephen Denning) — narrative structure
- Inspired (Marty Cagan) — strategic communication
- Made to Stick (Chip & Dan Heath) — memorable messaging